Perspective – Dose #1

I’ve been hit recently with a good dose of perspective lately. I think the recommended dose is… daily. Actually, it’s probably more like “find perspective as many times in a day as possible.”

Last weekend I took some perspective medicine. Our church recently started a three week series on money. This is usually a service where a lot of people roll their eyes as it’s a perceived sermon on “give the church more money” and it’s usually a sermon that convicts me to give more, but doesn’t convict me enough to really take action.

However, last weekend’s sermon was different. I wasn’t made to feel guilty about not giving enough but rather I was given encouragement and affirmation. One of the things that really struck me was a statement backed up with two facts.

Pastor Doug: You are rich.

Me (in my head): Wait… me? I’m rich? Ha!

Then came the stats:

If you make $25,000, you are richer than 90% of the world’s population.

If you make $50,000, you are richer than 99% of the world’s population.

We all know that I’m a numbers guy. So these statistics hit me pretty hard. It turns out… I AM rich! I have a wonderful, loving, and beautiful wife, a loving family, great friends, I am gainfully employed, I have a house, and virtually no debt. God has blessed me so richly that it’s ridiculous and yet I find ways to complain about my current circumstances. God promises to supply every need we have. It says so in the Bible:

“But my God shall supply all your needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". – Philippians 4:19

So the perspective I gained last weekend was this: I don’t need more money, a better job, more things, higher status, or more credit. I need more of God. My dad has said to me my entire life, “Don’t sweat the small stuff… and it’s all small stuff.” Well, instead of “stuff” he says the “S” word but He’s so right! If God is the biggest thing out there, and He dwells in me, then I already have the biggest thing, and all the other stuff is small in comparison.

Don’t get me wrong… from Sunday to the time I wrote this post I complained a lot. That’s why this perspective thing really sucks. I have to have it all the time or I relapse into being an ungrateful jerk. It’s extremely hard to maintain.

Stay tuned for Dose #2.

Now that you know I’m rich, don’t go hitting me up for a loan for your mid-life crisis Ducati 848 EVO . (You know who you are…Parsons) It won’t happen.